Bruno Mars Scores First No. 1 Album on Billboard

Bruno Mars claims his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as Unorthodox Jukebox jumps to the top of the tally. The set, largely fueled by sale pricing by Amazon MP3, sold 95,000 copies in the week ending March 3 for a gain of 96% compared to the previous week (according to Nielsen SoundScan).

On Tuesday, Feb. 26, the digital store offered a bevy of albums for just $1.99, including Mars’ latest and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ The Heist.

Discounted sales of Unorthodox Jukebox and The Heist and all of last week’s other Amazon MP3 $1.99-priced titles count toward their weekly total because the albums have been out for more than four weeks. Billboard doesn’t count sales of albums priced below $3.49 in their first four weeks of release.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ The Heist climbs 16-4 with 42,000 (up 89%), after the set’s sale pricing at Amazon MP3 and the duo’s performance on NBC’s Saturday Night Live (March 2). It’s the album’s largest sales week, and highest chart rank, since its debut at No. 2 with 78,000 (Oct. 27, 2012).